As the world warms, overheating is becoming a chronic problem in much of Europe - posing an existential threat to people living in energy poverty in particular. That’s why efforts to green Europe’s housing stock must take account of this issue, as Smarter4EU Energy poverty lead Iva Merheim-Eyre of Habitat for Humanity explains.
The summer is over, but in many places this is no reason for end-of-summer blues. We have just been through what NASA called the "earth's hottest summer since global records began in 1880", and many Europeans will be welcoming the arrival of colder weather. Overheating has abated – for now – in the Mediterranean and many Europeans are starting to feel the consequences in their own homes.
Cooling costs can contribute to energy poverty as much as heating – that’s old news. What has changed in the past years is the scope of this problem, and the number of low income households which are suddenly finding out their house is no longer suitable for the weather conditions they live in. Low resilience to heat is no longer a question of comfort. It is estimated that “hot weather inflamed by carbon pollution killed nearly 50,000 people in Europe last year, with the continent warming at a much faster rate than other parts of the world”. The number of heat-related deaths keeps growing with the number of extreme temperature days yet many households don’t know where to start with adjustments and often perceive cooling only as a matter of turning on the air conditioning.
However, cooling doesn’t have to be only about expensive technologies. Everyone has probably experienced visiting an old historical town house which felt comfortably cool and airy even in scorching heat. Try to picture it. No matter if you think of an Italian palazzo, crisp white Greek folk house or a Czech wooden cottage. There are features all of these structures have in common. Thick walls from a natural, breathable material(1), strategically placed windows to facilitate free cooling from night purge ventilation, strategic shading from the likes of roof overhangs, wide window ledges, awnings, brise soleil and adjustable window blinds, and perhaps a small rainwater basin in the rear. Carefully designed into a whole house strategy, these low tech technologies remain useful tools of today’s green housing.
Some of these solutions can be easily implemented in any dwelling. Unfortunately, far too much of Europe’s affordable housing stock consists of cheaply built concrete housing which require deep renovation to significantly improve their indoor temperature. Moreover, the lack of greenery and water elements, which is often symptomatic in areas around affordable blocks of flats, further increases the temperature in the area. That is why SMARTER4EU is offering cooperation to municipalities interested in rethinking their social housing stock and increasing the heat resilience of their cities by using affordable sustainable solutions as a part of their spatial planning and water management strategies.
In our Let’s build green and elevate campaign, SMARTER4EU calls for greater public private cooperation in this regard, starting by opening a dialogue about the exploration of new hybrid funding opportunities. Explore the campaign here and join the discussion!
(1) When we talk about breathability in buildings, we’re talking about moisture, not air. Sweatability might be a better word to describe this process, which is about the ability of building fabric to enable moisture to migrate to the external or indoor air and evaporate - rather than condensing in the fabric and leading to mould growth, threatening the structure of the building, or the health of occupants.